


In Me Thou See'st

by Yass_Rani



Series: The Karman Stories [3]
Category: Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan (2020)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:27:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25877416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yass_Rani/pseuds/Yass_Rani
Summary: A fic based on Shakespeare's Sonnet 73, as spoken to by Kartik about Aman.In him, Aman see'st the colours of autumn, the beauty of twilight and the glow of fire.In him, Kartik sees love.
Relationships: Kartik Singh/Aman Tripathi
Series: The Karman Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1644433
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	In Me Thou See'st

**Author's Note:**

  * For [HackedByAWriter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HackedByAWriter/gifts).



> Happy Birthday Sargun! I love you so much and I hope you like this and it's enough payback after your wonderful titanic gift <3 
> 
> :) enjoy.

**That time of year thou mayst in me behold**

**When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang**

**Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,**

**Bare ruin'd choirs, where late the sweet birds sang.**

Aman gazed at a photo of Kartik lounging on the grass, leaves drifting around him in various shades of orange. They’d gone to Kashmir in the autumn, on their honeymoon, and as much as Aman hated taking – or being in – photos, the sight of his husband surrounded by the chinar leaves that washed him in a golden light made him whip his camera out and click a photo.

It was beautiful, that day, Kartik’s soft smile glowing in the shades of autumn while the trees in the park waved to put their leaves down, preparing for the winter that would cover the now empty branches with dense snowflakes. They’d had steaming chai while the chilly breeze ruffled their hair, Kartik insisting on buying more Kashmiri apples than they could ever eat and chuckling ever so softly when he brushed a few stray leaves off of Aman’s hair.

The same smile gazed at Aman even now, shining out of a face as wrinkled as the autumn leaves that were now dried and framed on a wall, courtesy of Kusum’s interior decorating skills. The laugh lines around Kartik’s eyes crinkled deeper as he recognized the photo his husband was holding, a breathy chuckle escaping as he smiled at Aman who’d caught his eyes when he looked up from his hands.

Aman, the love of his life, his husband and his soulmate, gazed softly at Kartik, the brown in his eyes flecked with a honey colour that his tears only turned brighter. The silver in his hair mirrored the glint of the silver ring on his finger, the smooth metal cool under Kartik’s wrinkled hands holding his husband’s, both sharing a fond memory enough to be conveyed without words.

**In me thou see'st the twilight of such day**

**As after sunset fadeth in the west,**

**Which by and by black night doth take away,**

**Death's second self, that seals up all in rest.**

They’d stayed in the park for the entire evening, having dozed off at some point only to wake up to see the sun sinking into the still waters of the lake as the sky slowly turned deep blue, stars starting to fleck the sky like little diamonds on velveteen blue.

Kartik was leaning against a tree, Aman’s head in his lap as he absentmindedly stroked his fingers through the smooth brown locks, mumbling about how peaceful it was. His husband’s face was washed with soft moonlight and Aman swore his heart stilled for a moment – the stars Kartik was talking about were never up there, he realised, they were _here_ , in his eyes.

That seemed to have never changed. He’d mentioned it to Kartik once, and from then on, even decades later, the way Aman looked at him reminded him of the way he said his eyes looked like the night sky. Kartik knew that in him, Aman saw the soft twilight on a winter night, in the way his eyes would darken like the sky after the sunset every time Aman kissed him, in the way his eyes would glint every time he planned something for his husband in classic Kartik fashion.

Kartik knew that Aman saw the beauty of night in his eyes, a solace as peaceful as death itself, and that was when Kartik knew he didn’t fear the latter anymore. Because if death would feel like what Aman did, he would embrace it like an old friend.

**In me thou see'st the glowing of such fire**

**That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,**

**As the death-bed whereon it must expire,**

**Consum'd with that which it was nourish'd by.**

They were sitting in front of the small fireplace in the cottage they hired, listening to the crickets outside and the fire crackling softly. Red embers from the first pieces of wood glowed in the fresher fire, washing the cottage in a warmth that was only rivalled by the blanket Aman had put over their shoulders while they held each other, drinking fresh chai and murmuring something every now and then.

It was peaceful, comfortable. It was everything they wanted and more – and the way they basked in each other’s warmth and breathed each other’s fragrance in showed exactly how satisfied they were having gotten what they’d only dreamed about for years. That night, there was no fear, no need to hide or shy away, as the newlyweds gazed into each other's eyes with the same fervour as when they’d first kissed. Hearts beat and eyelids fluttered as their lips met in a soft kiss that swore testaments of love and affection that seemed to still time.

Kartik knew, from the look in Aman’s eyes that he was thinking of that night. He saw the fire’s embers in Kartik's eyes – so strong he knew they were from the same love that fueled his heart. Aman saw the wrinkled face, the laugh lines and the soft smile, as he leaned in for a kiss again, lips meeting with the same affection and fervour of decades past.

**This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong,**

**To love that well which thou must leave ere long.**

Kartik held Aman’s eyes, the same pools of murky brown that he fell in love with, thirty years ago and every day since. Aman had seen the golden light of autumn, the fiery glow of embers and the soft darkness of twilight in his husband and Kartik knew that from the look in his eyes.

He knew Aman saw everything about him, the best and the worst – and what he’d thought would push the man away only brought them closer throughout the years. Kartik knew their love would go on for centuries.

Kartik knew Aman loved him just as much as he loved Aman. It was written in every wrinkle on his face, every whisper of his now raspy voice, in every tiny brown pool in his eyes, every quiver of his lips, in every bit of his fibre and it shone right out of his soul. He saw it every time his husband winced when _he_ was the one in pain; he saw it in the soft gaze Aman would give to their children who stood at the door, in the subtle shiver of his hands whenever he held on to Kartik.

He knew Aman’s love was so strong it would go on forever, as long as he lived, as long as any tiny part of some semblance of his consciousness existed.

To the last syllable of recorded time, he would love Kartik.

Kartik knew that Aman’s love was so strong he loved something he knew would leave before long.

Aman loved him even when he knew death would do them part, even as he knew Kartik would leave – he knew in the depths of his soul that Kartik was, is and will be his everything.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked it! Leave kudos or comments I accept any and all reactions :D  
> Also check out my tumblr: yass-rani


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